Scheherazade
03-07-2009, 06:45 PM
(Pulitzer Prize - 1929)
I did not know what to expect when I started reading Laughing Boy and it was many things that I did not expect.
It is the love story of Laughing Boy, a young man from Navajo tribe, and Slim Girl, who has lost her Indian identity due to her "education" by Americans. This unlikely couple tries to make their marriage work even though they do not get the blessings of their families and people around them in general but they persevere until the untimely death of Slim Girl.
I have to admit that I found the story line a little too dramatic at times and I could not sympathise with Slim Girl's actions (nor could I understand her fully) and the ending was not very satisfactory.
Despite all these, I enjoyed reading the book very much because it is full of beautiful descriptions of the Indian way of life and culture. This is probably the first book I have read about American Indians which does not concentrate on the aggressive clashes between these people and "Americans". It has been great experience to read about the simple (at times naive) moral codes and rules they lived by until they were "seduced" by the new culture they were confronted (which also brings about Slim Girl's destruction in a way).
Over all, it was an interesting and entertaining read:
7/10 KitKats!
I did not know what to expect when I started reading Laughing Boy and it was many things that I did not expect.
It is the love story of Laughing Boy, a young man from Navajo tribe, and Slim Girl, who has lost her Indian identity due to her "education" by Americans. This unlikely couple tries to make their marriage work even though they do not get the blessings of their families and people around them in general but they persevere until the untimely death of Slim Girl.
I have to admit that I found the story line a little too dramatic at times and I could not sympathise with Slim Girl's actions (nor could I understand her fully) and the ending was not very satisfactory.
Despite all these, I enjoyed reading the book very much because it is full of beautiful descriptions of the Indian way of life and culture. This is probably the first book I have read about American Indians which does not concentrate on the aggressive clashes between these people and "Americans". It has been great experience to read about the simple (at times naive) moral codes and rules they lived by until they were "seduced" by the new culture they were confronted (which also brings about Slim Girl's destruction in a way).
Over all, it was an interesting and entertaining read:
7/10 KitKats!